Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) and Taylor Kitsch (Friday Night Lights) have been cast in Ryan Murphy’s HBO movie adaptation of ‘The Normal Heart’, originally written as a Tony award winning play by Larry Kramer. Julia Roberts, Mark Ruffalo, and Matt Bomer have already been cast in the adaptation which is set for production later this year for a 2014 debut.

The project tells the story of the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City in the early 1980s. Parsons plays gay activist Tommy Boatwright, reprising his role from the 2011 Broadway revival. He was previously attached to Murphy’s adaptation when it was eyed as a theatrical feature. Kitsch plays Bruce Niles, a closeted investment banker who becomes a prominent AIDS activist. Roberts plays physician Dr. Emma Brookner, a survivor of childhood polio who treats several of the earliest victims of HIV-AIDS. Ruffalo plays Ned Weeks, who witnesses first-hand the mysterious disease that has begun to claim the lives of many in his gay community and starts to seek answers. Bomer plays Felix Turner, a reporter who becomes Ned’s lover. Murphy executive produces with Jason Blum, Dede Gardner and Dante Di Loreto.